Tag Archives: war horse

Equestrian Practice Report

5 riders and their steeds braved the chill winds for our first unofficial equestrian practice of the year.  AEthelmearc’s current KEO, Alexander Caithnes,  thumbed his knightly nose at the winter storm warnings and joined us for a day of chivalry, learning, and authorizations prep.  Alli arrived with her whippets to add to the medieval flair.  Mark had squirreled away his camera in his pocket, and snapped these shots perched atop Dolly’s mountainous back:

Armed and elegant! Rachel and Pete

SCA equestrian practice Rachel and Pete

Alexander expounds, Cricket cogitates, and Kirsten tries not to Freeze!

SCA equestrian practice

 

Worldview from a War Horse: Weapons rack through Dolly’s ears

SCA equestrian practice

Alexander gave us a generous grant towards procuring insurance for official SCA practices. Mark stepped forth to offer the balance.  Many thanks to them for their knightly largesse!

Riders and their mounts:

Scott and Cassandra

Noel and Sioux

Rachel and Pierre Pointille

Mark and Dolly Madison

Kirsten and Red Sonja

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Authorizations Scheduling Change

Gunnarr and Banshee will be traveling down from Endless Hills to conduct authorizations for our local equestrians on Saturday, April 4.  The bad weather back up date will be April 18.

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Sylvan Glen Equestrian Practices

We are thrilled to have 2 equestrian practices on the calendar so far.

On Feb 21 we will be holding an unofficial equestrian get together.
Alexander, Aethelmearc’s current KEO will be coming down as well as
Gunnar, the Equestrian Marshal for Siege.

On March 21 Gunnar will be coming down again along with Banshee and/or
his lady to authorize riders.

We will no doubt be locking in more dates as the season advances, and
encourage equestrians to participate in nearby Atlantian practices.

Practices will be held at Almost Heaven Horse Source in Leetown (Mark
and Kirsten’s family farm) and are weather dependent. We will post
details and directions closer to the date. There are a FEW horses
available to rent for intermediate and advanced riders. Please
contact me as soon as possible if you think you may want to ride.

Rules for the games, and many other resources are on the kingdom
equestrian site at http://frontpage.velocity.net/duane/ae-eqindex.htm.
Googling “sca equestrian” and suchlike will provide endless hours of
entertainment and inspiration. At some point I promise I’ll put all my
favorite historical horsey hangouts in one spot…

Wanna play but don’t want to ride? We can’t pull it off without our
wonderful groundcrew! Come to the practices and start becoming
familiar with our beloved steeds, the crazy things we do and ways you
can join in!

So, mark your calendars, read your rulebooks, and shoot me any
questions you may have.

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Equestrian at Siege of Glengary

Equestrian events are returning to Siege of Glengary in the Shire of Sylvan Glen!
Yippeee! Thank you Margarita for your persistance in securing the site we’ve dreamed of since the Lazy A days!Equestrian events are fun to participate in and exciting to watch. Our
magnificent steeds carry us back to the very roots of chivalry and the
dream we continue to create. As we thunder towards towards September,
please let me know how you would like to be involved.

If you ride, we can help you get started with the games. If you love
horses, being a groundcrewsman is a wonderful way to get your feet
wet, and again, we can get you going.

Your input will help us shape the road to Glengary. How can we help
you further the dream?

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Merry Christmas to Tray, Elizabeth, Marque, and Tyler Johnson!

A very Merry Christmas to Tray, Elizabeth, Marque, and Tyler Johnson!

We couldn’t think of a better present to offer to you this Christmas than…
A little time sharing our Dream by coming to tour our working horse farm! Step back into history and see the world as it was… see some rare breeds of horse that have all but vanished since the advent of the tractor. See descendants of the mighty warhorses of old.  And if the stars are right, perhaps ride one!

My wife Kirsten and I would be happy to host you! Merry Christmas!

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Ailenor’s Equestrian Practice

Our southern cousins Lady Alienor and Lord Reinmar hosted an SCA equestrian practice at their farm.  We loaded up the beasties and dragged Scott and Noel along as well.  Scott and Noel rode at Siege of Glengary when we hosted the equestrian events. Noel now owns my old warhorse, Sioux, veteran of Gulf Wars.  It was just like old times!

The two young horses I brought had never played the games before.  Gideon was a little leery–especially of the heavy machinery next door! Lucy, my Thoroughbred racetrack rescue, took it all in stride:

Lucy, 5 yo TB mare for sale, cross-trains at an SCA medieval equestrian practice

 

Lucy, all around TB mare for sale, cross trains at an SCA equestrian practice

Lucy, all around TB mare for sale, jousting at the quintain

Our novice horses faced new places, new horses, and new challenges…even new outfits!  The natural horsemanship foundation laid at home gave them a solid grounding for acceptance and quick mastery of new experiences. Clicker training accelerated the horses’ comfort level with flailing swords, bobbing lances and billowing costumes.

Everyone rode well and had a blast!  Lady Brandwyn Alston again marshalled.  Our thanks to the ground crew who kept everything running quickly and smoothly. My hands were too full with 2 horses to take photos. Next time I promise to get more!

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Natural Horsemanship in a Sabre Skirmish

In uploading video from this weekends’ Cavalry demonstration, I noticed another example of natural horsemanship principles at work in the very unnatural setting of the sabre skirmish:

 

 

 

 

Watch the grey and the palomino. Notice their riders aren’t carrying weapons. (Notice, too, the grey starts out clearly saying “no way!” to the engagement!)

It appears that these two horses are new to mock battle. (We saw the palomino being introduced to mounted shooting with a horsey buddy to give him confidence.) Their riders weave in and out of the circling horses and clanging swords.

Moving forward through a series of achievable, progressive steps is the hallmark of an effective horse training program. How better to teach a flight animal to willingly plunge into battle!

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Natural Horsemanship and Cavalry Mounted Shooting

Natural horsemanship pops up in the most unexpected places!

Mark and I stopped in at the National Conservation Center for their Autumn Conservation Festival. The Center is located almost next door to Mark’s house, which we’ve been prepping for sale throughout the summer. Throughout the early 1900′s, the Center acted as a bustling Cavalry Remount Station. The 7th Virginia Division E Cavalry set up their encampment and performed demos throughout this weekend’s festival.

One of the training drills resembled our medieval reenacting game of Behead the Enemy and the increasingly popular cowboy mounted shooting. Horse and rider race down a line of head-high balloons trying to shoot them at speed.

 

 

 

A cavalry officer on a novice horse unwittingly demonstrated a foundational principle of natural horsemanship: work with the horse’s instincts to make the right thing easy. In this case, another rider on a seasoned mount flanked the spooky horse throughout the run. The novice horse gained confidence from the veteran’s nonchalance in the face of gunfire, smoke, and popping balloons.

 

 

 

I guess you can take the natural horseman out of the training arena, but you can’t take the training arena out of the natural horseman. Even on “non-horsey” days natural horsemanship pursues us!

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Ride To the Middle Ages

Saturday morning lessons finished, I played hooky from farmwork and snuck over the Potomac to an Atlantian equestrian practice.  Lady Alienor graciously shared her steeds with me.

Lady Alienora and JR

Lady Alienora and JR at the Reed Chop

Atlantia’s Deputy Earl Marshal of the Horse, Lady Brandwyn Alston of the Rift, marshaled a day of medieval horsemanship.

SCA medieval equestrian game of tilting the rings

Several of the riders are also musicians.  Impromptu concerts sprang up during breaks.

Gorgeous day in the pouring sunshine, doing the things I love most in the world, while ethereal voices sang period ballads under the pavilion. Yup, great times had by all!

 

Sca Equestrian Practice

Click here to see the full gallery of images.

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